Renée and Lester Crown of Wilmette served as the May 5 event's chairmen.

Since WTTW launched in 1955, generations have grown up with lessons from "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," budding chefs learned to cook with Julia Child and foodies now discover new gustatory pleasures through "Check Please!" Poirot and Sherlock added mystery to the nights while Downton Abbey and Ken Burns' documentaries added drama and history to our lives.

Cause Célèbre: "You are never going to find better quality scripted drama or more fair and balanced news coverage than you will on public television," said WTTW/WFMT president/CEO Dan Schmidt, formerly of Wilmette.

Schmidt pointed to cable news for comparison. "If you look…it is very clear which are on the right and which are on the left. We try not to take a position and to provide content and journalism that respects the intelligence of our viewers and lets them make up their own minds," said Schmidt.

Minow underscored this by noting that, "According to every national poll in the last 12 years, PBS has become the most trustworthy institution in America."

The challenge, according to Denny Cummings of Winnetka, is that, "It's free programming so it's hard for people to put a value on it. They think it's free so it can't be any good," said Cummings. He urged everyone: "Give it a try, it's pretty spectacular."

Bottom Line: The event raised $1.5 million to support programming on WTTW and WFMT.